Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Analysis: French pension standoff causing cracks in Macron's camp, insiders say

Analysis: French pension standoff causing cracks in Macron's camp, insiders say

President Emmanuel Macron's drive to ram through legislation raising France's retirement age despite mass protests is creating rifts between ministers and his allies amid frustration that the government has not resolved the standoff, insiders say.

Ministers and lawmakers are trading blame for the failure to build broader support for Macron's flagship policy, and some members of his own party are uneasy with his move to use executive powers to push the bill through parliament.

Polls suggesting voters want a cabinet reshuffle are putting further pressure on Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, with some of her colleagues likely to be eyeing to take her place should she be forced to resign over her government's handling of the crisis.

What started out in January as a union-led protest against Macron's plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64 has spiralled into a broader movement with mass demonstrations held across France that frequently turn violent.

No minister has publicly broken rank on the pensions reform or the government's approach to its delivery, but sources close to Macron's camp say that behind the scenes government officials and lawmakers are engaged in a damaging blame-game and infighting as some no longer bother to hide frustrations.

With no sign of the protests abating, insiders question whether Borne's government has lost control of the political messaging necessary to appease the street.

"We've got two or three days to get control of the messaging again and get everybody back on the same page," one government source said.

The situation has deteriorated considerably since Macron decided on March 16 to adopt the reform using special constitutional powers to bypass parliament.

While fiercely criticised by oppositions parties as undemocratic, the move has also sat uneasily with some lawmakers in Macron's Renaissance party and its allies, after some of them have seen protesters vandalise their offices in their constituencies.

When asked about the divisions, the president's office said the majority of Macron's camp remained strong and united.

Meanwhile protesters are increasingly turning their wrath on Macron for chipping away at what they see as a cherished cornerstone of France's social contract, if banners waved in demos on Tuesday are anything to go by.

Some at protests in Paris read "Should we cut off his head? Yes - Maybe" and "Thanks Macron for sparking the flame of revolution".

Not even a year into his second five-year term, Macron has failed to shake off his image among voters as an aloof CEO of a rarefied elite deaf to the common people's concerns.

In a poll published on Thursday, 76% of those surveyed said that the pension reform episode had left them with a bad opinion of Macron, and nearly two thirds want a reshuffle.


IN THE HOT SEAT


Macron sought to turn the page on the pension crisis with a TV interview last week in which he refused to back down. Although this further outraged protesters, a second government source said it was an effort to move on and some ministers should follow the president's example.

"There are still ministers who are saying 'we should have done this or that', No!," the source lamented. "They need to carpet-bomb on their patch and push new subjects that eclipse the pension reform."

An official in Borne's office said the prime minister had made efforts to preserve unity among ministers and lawmakers.

"Are there lawmakers who have regrets, yes, she (Borne) continued to see them, to reunite them to get past this episode," the official said.

Meanwhile, the reform has kept ministers from getting out and defending their work, the official said. "There's frustration."

French prime ministers have often taken the heat for presidents when the going gets tough. But the blast from the anti-Macron rage has reached a point that Borne, a mild-mannered career technocrat, can do little to deflect criticism from him.

Borne has offered to meet with union leaders next week for the first time since presenting the unpopular reform to them in January, but she shot down a union proposal to seek mediation, even though allies like the centrist Modem party offered to play go-between.

Meanwhile, sources in the government's inner circle downplay the growing dissonance as a normal side-effect when tensions mount, but also acknowledge the situation is critical.

In what has become a rare appearance on the domestic stage, Macron said during a visit to the Alps on Thursday on the theme of water conservation that work had to go on despite the protests.


DEEP MALAISE


Renaissance lawmaker Patrick Vignal said that there is a deeper malaise because too many in Macron's camp are failing to convince voters and get potential allies on side.

"When you hear the ministers and the lawmakers talk, often it just doesn't fly. The French can tell when it's sincere or not," Vignal told Reuters.

Against that background, government and party officials say infighting and backstabbing is rife with knives drawn for Borne as some ministers try to position themselves for her job if Macron decides a reshuffle is the best hope for turning a page.

"Since the situation is tense, it's normal that sparks are flying. People want to be heard," the first government source said, adding that badmouthing Borne to the press would not win any favours from Macron.

While a ministerial reshuffle could be a way of showing that Macron is not deaf to people's frustrations with the government, any boost would be at best limited, said political analyst Frederic Dabi, who heads the Ifop polling institute.

Macron could yet get a face-saving chance to tweak the reform without caving into opponents if the constitutional council finds fault when it rules on April 14 whether the law is in line with the constitution in its current form.

Otherwise few other options are available as simply scotching the reform would weaken Macron for the rest of his term and his party could lose more seats if he calls new legislative elections.

"The executive branch seems to be adrift, there's a feeling it has hit a roadblock," Dabi said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×